Turnips
by InsideMyBrain
Summary: There's white turnips and red turnips, right? Well what if there were purple turnips too? A change so small could hardly cause that much of a disturbance... Right?
1. Chapter 1

No matter what changed in Animal Crossing, the turnips never did. They were a constant, uniform, unchanging fact of life for everyone in the small town of Paris.

Or at least, that's what I thought.

One Sunday morning, I was just strolling around, looking for Joan to invest in a few turnips.

The stalk market was how I made my money. Sometimes it can be unpredictable, but usually it moves up and down. If you buy it when it's down, good for you. If you buy it when it's up, you may be screwed.

When I located Joan, she smiled at me as usual and offered me the choices of which turnip. But I had to do a double take. There were purple turnips on the list.

"Purple turnips?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What about them?" She asked.

"Explain purple turnips." I responded.

Joan then launched into a long-winded description, but what I got out of it was this: The purple turnips were lucky. The more they cost, the luckier. It's also good to buy purple turnips and white turnips in conjunction, because the purple ones can sometimes manipulate the stalk market. You could only buy 1 at a time.

So I made my purchases of 10 white turnips, red turnip seeds, and one purple turnip.

Then I made the rounds of the day: planting my red turnips, collecting fruit, checking what's in stock at Nook's... Finally, I decided to go to the city.

I rushed back to my house and changed into a butterfly shirt from GracieGrace, and brushed my long red hair. I then twisted it up into a bun and left, grabbing my shopping card on the way.

On the bus, Kapp'n flirted-or tried to flirt-with me, but I was really beyond caring at this point. So what, he's an old turtle. He can do that.

The bus pulled up at the city soon enough and I hopped out.

First, I went to GracieGrace. I'd been saving up a long time and since they had their big sale on now, I figured I should buy something. I bought the heart-shaped sunglasses and the princess wallpaper and headed out again.

Next stop was the auction. There's never really anything good there, but I always have to check. Sure enough, there was nothing today. So I left.

Down the street, I got my shoes shined from Kicks, then made my way over to Shampoodle. I'd been throwing my hair in that ol' bun for a while now, so I thought it was time for a change.

The hairdresser there cut my hair and gave me bangs, then manipulated it into a high ponytail. I liked it. It was cute, and yet could last an entire evening out.

Since I'd made the trip down here, got my hair _and_ my shoes changed, I figured, ah what the hell, I'll go see one of Shrunk's shows. They're not really very good, but I always laugh. You know why? Cause they're so bad!

I payed my 800 bells and walked into the theater. There was a sheep sitting in the front row, I thought her name was Baabara. I've only ever talked to her once.

Shrunk came on, made some crack about his wife, then the curtains were drawn again. Well, that was underwhelming.

I was about to leave when I realized I should go to Redd's. He should have changed his stock by now.

I walked down the sketchy part of the city, past the crates, holding my nose because of the awful smell. I knocked on his door, then pulled it open and walked in.

Redd's is just a little hole in the wall in the worst part of the city, but sometimes he has really good stuff. The invitation's worth it.

As I was browsing, something caught my eye. The famous painting. I flagged Redd down, and bought it. It was probably a fake, but something told me this was it.

I got back on the bus and left the city, feeling content. As soon as I got home, I would take the famous painting to the museum. The Louvre, as us citizens of Paris nicknamed it. Don't know where that came from, but someone came up with it and it just stuck.

The bus pulled up at Paris and I got out. The second my feet hit the ground I was off running for the museum. A few animals saw me along the way and tried to talk to me but I ignored them. This was important.

I burst into the museum. Sure enough, Blathers was sleeping.

I woke him up and showed him the painting.

"Hoo HOO!" He hooted joyfully. "Could this really be the celebrated famous painting?"

I was biting my lip, anticipating the realization it was a fake. But it didn't come.

"Yes, I thank you for your donation!" He chirped cheerfully, stowing it away in his pockets. I just about fainted. We had the famous painting? Right here in the small town of Paris? In the Louvre?

"Now, do you require any more assistance?" Blathers asked.

I shook my head. "Not really." I replied faintly. I needed a coffee.

I made my way down to The Roost and ordered the usual, with a splash of pigeon milk. I gave Brewster 500 bells and told him to keep the change. I was light-headed. The famous painting was in our humble museum?

-oooo-

The next day, the first thing I wanted to do was stroll over to the museum to see if Blathers had hung it yet. So I did. But as I drew nearer, a strange noise grew louder. It was the sound of many voices, talking all at once and very loudly, and heavy, pounding feet. The sound was punctuated by obnoxious clicking noises and, as the museum came into view, I suddenly understood.

There was a huge crowd of reporters, paparazzi, and random animals whom I assumed had come in from other towns to view our famous painting. They were all trying to get in, but Blathers and Celeste were blocking the door fearfully. Finally, Blathers stood, puffed his chest out, and said, "Welcome to the Louvre, home of the very famous..." Pause for effect, "Famous painting!" He and Celeste moved and the whole crowd streamed in, clicking their cameras and chatting excitedly.

Blathers sat down on the steps of the Louvre and sighed. Celeste's pink bow was mussed and his own bow tie was crooked. "When I heard some reporters were going to come..." He mused, rubbing his forehead, "I only thought one or two would spare some time for our quaint little town. Not a whole crowd!" He finished exasperatedly.

"Just wait for tomorrow." I spoke up. "After all those reporters write a story about us, there'll be even more people."

Celeste groaned. "They might even want to interview us." She pointed out. I rolled my eyes. Reporters.

Blathers sighed. This was going to be a long day.

-oooo-

By the end of the day, the town was in chaos. Blathers and Celeste were exhausted, Brewster was exasperated at the new (and much ruder) customers who didn't like his coffee and criticized his location. Cookie was affronted because one of the reporters tried to hit on her, Rasher was disgusted by the entire thing, and Tortimer had locked himself in his office and wouldn't come out. And me? I sat on the riverbank, eating an apple and watching the whole scene.

'My Lord...' I thought. 'When will this end?'

"Excuse me, miss?" I heard. I looked up and saw a rather cute dog holding a clipboard and a pencil. "My name is Bones, I'm here for the Versailles Insider?"

I sighed and patted the grass next to me. Might as well get it over with.

Bones took up his pencil. "How did you come to acquire this famous painting?"

"Well, actually, I brought it." I said. Bones' eyebrows shot up his forehead. I continued the story.

"In the city, Versailles, there's a fox who runs a shop, Crazy Redd."

Bones grimaced. "We've already done several stories on _him._ I'm currently trying to expose him for fraud. Don't tell me you got it from him?!"

I smiled uncomfortably. "Er, yes. But don't worry, it's not a fraud. Our resident painting expert, Blathers, could spot a fake from a mile."

Bones' expression told me he was still skeptical, but at least he didn't question it further. "Ah, okay. How do you think this will affect the town?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Affect the town? Pardon me sir, but Paris has stayed the same for forty years. I highly doubt it will change now because of one little painting."

Boy, I couldn't be any more wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, I read the story Bones had written in the Versailles Insider. I almost choked on my orange juice at the last sentences.

"However, even the addition of the most celebrated painting in the world, the long-lost famous painting, we won't be seeing the small town of Paris changing any time soon. As one resident says, 'Paris has stayed the same for forty years. I highly doubt it will change now because of one little painting.'"

He had quoted me! He'd actually quoted me! I felt a little surge of pride and folded up the newspaper, slugged down the last of my juice, and left the house.

-oooo-

I was heading to Nook's with pockets full of fruit when I saw it.

The crews of animals with yellow hard hats. The smoke and the dust. And the big digging machinery.

"What's going on?" I yelled to Nook, who was standing behind a fence, observing the whole process.

"Store expansion!" He yelled back.

I was confused. After he upgraded to Nookington's, he'd told the town there would be no more updates.

"Another one?!" I called.

"For souvenirs!" He replied.

My face must have shown my disgust, because he said, "We got so many tourists lately I thought it might be worth it to put in a basement!"

I shook my head and left the construction site. I hoped that even though Nookington's was changing, the rest of our town would stay the same.

Of course, it didn't.

The next person I saw was Brewster. He was scouting out locations for a new coffeeshop.

"You know, be a little more independent. Give the customers what they want. Better location, better selection." He said, while walking around a signpost to determine if it was in a good spot.

"You could make it in big business, Brewster." I told him.

He nodded. "That's what I want to do." He stood straight up as if something had occurred to him. "Here, take your gyroids back." He handed me every gyroid I'd ever given him. "I can't be keeping people's gyroids anymore. I don't have enough space."

He shook his head at the signpost and left. I watched him go, openmouthed.

Well, this was certainly turning out to be interesting.

Then, I went to the Able Sisters. They were just like everyone else. Mabel was talking about expanding, and Sable kept saying to keep it small and quaint.

They were wrapped up in their argument, so I just left.

I sat down on the side of the cliff with my feet dangling off the edge and sighed. Contrary to what I'd suspected, Paris was changing. I heard a cough and looked up.

Bones was standing behind me with his clipboard again. "Hello." He said. I sighed. "It seems things are changing."

He cocked his head, then carefully put down his clipboard.

"How?" He asked quietly.

"Nook is expanding again, Mabel and Sable are arguing about expanding, and Brewster is moving out." I replied.

Bones sat down beside me and said, "But don't you think change is a good thing?"

I shrugged. "I guess in most areas. But here? Everyone who lives here came because they wanted to get away from the world. And how can we do that if it's becoming commercialized and corrupt?"

Bones seemed impressed by this piece of insight, and he crossed his legs. We just sat there for a bit.

"You know, I wanted to move here." He said quietly. I looked at him. "I've almost got enough money saved up. I was going to move to a small town and start over, get away from the world like you said. And you're right. This is one of the only places that isn't commercialized and corrupt. But now it's changing."

I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. There's some things you just can't leave behind you when you live in the real world. I know I couldn't shake the weight of the past. That's why we need a sanctuary. And until now, Paris had been our sanctuary.

Bones sighed, then smiled at me. "Gotta go. I need to interview Tortimer."

I nodded at him. "Goodbye. And good luck. You know, with finding another town."

He stood up and walked away, waving before he did so.

-oooo-

Later that day, I was talking to Marcel. He was talking of leaving Paris.

"Everything's changing, oui oui." He said dejectedly. "I don't want to stick around until they try and change me, too!"

That got me thinking. What would happen to the residents? Where would they go? Paris was one of the last pure towns. Bones, Marcel, and even me. Where would we all go?


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke with a hazy, clogged brain. I felt heavy, like my limbs were being held down by 1000-pound weights. I struggled to get up.

I almost didn't want to leave the house today. What fresh atrocity was being planned for our little town? I wondered if Nook was finished expanding yet. I wondered if Mabel and Sable had reached an agreement. I wondered what changes Brewster was planning for his little coffeeshop.

I grimaced. There were too many 'I wonder's, too many variables in this equation. I wished nothing had changed. I wished I'd never bought that famous painting. I wished I'd never bought those turnips.

I sat straight up in bed. The turnips! Those damn purple turnips were the cause of everything. I remembered Joan's words: "You can only buy one purple turnip at a time though, because too much luck can be very, _very_ unlucky indeed."

But I'd only bought one purple turnip, and it had _still_ been bad for our town. I groaned and buried my face in the pillow. Everything was my fault!

I heard my mail slot click open, and the newspaper slip in. I rushed out of bed to get it. Bones said he'd be on this story, so there was probably going to be another article. I ran down the stairs and saw it sitting on the floor. I picked it up and read the front page article, nearly dropping it when I saw what it was about.

"Major Changes for Small Town Paris Due to Famous Painting," The headline blared. I gulped and started to read the article.

"On Monday, a resident of the small town Paris found the most celebrated painting in the world, the famous painting, and brought it back to the town. This famous painting has been the subject of much controversy, as almost two hundred years after it was painted it went missing from the state museum in Amsterdam. However, the resident claims it was sold to her by Crazy Redd, a shop owner in Versailles. She brought it back to the Louvre, as the museum in Paris is fondly nicknamed, and the rest, we suspect, will become history. But what's happening to the town now could become history as well.

"After WWIII, Paris was one of the very few towns to go back to bare minimums. It soon became a place for animals, and even humans to get away from the world, have a sanctuary. But now that the famous painting is there, all that could change.

"Last night, the plan for a new mall to be constructed in Paris was revealed, making several residents and shopkeepers disgruntled and angry. The Able Sisters, a quaint tailor's shop, issued a statement saying they will not be able to compete with GracieGrace and the other big brand names that will come with the mall. The townsfolk in Paris are shocked and depressed that their beloved Able Sisters are closing their shop. The town's mayor, Tortimer, said, 'The mall will be good for the town. It will bring more sponsors and companies, and our residents will be able to live in comfort and style.' However, Marcel, a resident, says, 'I don't think I'll like the new mall, oui oui. It just doesn't seem like something Paris would be able to embrace.' Marcel announced his plans to leave Paris yesterday."

I put down the newspaper, reeling from the shock. There was going to be a new mall? How come I never knew about this? And Tortimer actually approved it? The Able Sisters were closing?

I quickly changed and burst out of the house, running full speed to get to the Able Sisters. When I got there, however, I saw it was too late.

The shop was boarded up, and there was a cardboard sign tacked to the door. I tookit down and read it.

"The Able Sisters is now closed. Permanently. We deeply apologize to the residents of Paris, but we can't compete with the new mall. -Mabel and Sable"

I sighed, a big long sigh. Then I looked around and realized how much everything had _really_ changed.

There was a big sign a couple metres away. It proclaimed, "Paris Mall, coming soon!" Then there was a list of the shops you'd expect to see in it. GracieGrace, House Hardware, and Starbells were included in the list. Something to compete with everyone.

A couple hundred metres away from that, there was a new building. I got a little closer, and I saw it was the new Roost. 'The Roost' was written across the top in glowing red letters, and the clean glass of the storefront showed off the new furniture and grand piano. I hesitantly walked towards it, then broke into a run, I burst into the shop and Brewster looked up, startled.

"Oh. It's you." He stated, sounding a bit relieved that it wasn't a tourist. I looked at the chalkboard on the wall behind him, and saw there were different types of coffee, and get this! Baked goods!

I must have looked shocked, because Brewster looked at me a bit sheepishly. "I'm getting Sable to bake for me."

Sable came out of a door I hadn't noticed before. "Hello." She said, a bit sadly, like always. She was wearing a new apron, a bright blue one to match Brewster. She put a pan of freshly baked brownies into a glass container. I had to admit, they looked good.

"Where's Mabel?" I asked. Sable's shoulders drooped. "She left for Versailles, to try and find Label." She whispered. "I don't know about this. Our whole town's falling apart, but I'm trying to hold on, like an old fool."

I walked up to the counter and put my hand on her paw. "You're not a fool for sticking around. I'm not leaving any time soon either. We'll both hold on to our old Paris, and between us we can scrape by."

"Thank you." She sighed, wiping her eyes with her other paw. "Would you like a brownie? Fresh-baked, only 300 bells."

I nodded and put a 500-bell coin on the counter. She put one in a bag for me and gave me two 100-bell coins back. Just as I was about to leave, she leaned in and whispered, "I kept my sewing machine. So if you want me to make you an outfit, I can. Sewing is still my favourite thing to do."

"Thank you." I whispered back. "I'll do that."

I left the store, even more depressed than I was before.


	4. Chapter 4

**this is a really short chapter, sorry guys :'(**

 **Anyway, this story will probably end next chapter. Thanks to the handful of you that read and reviewed! Really appreciate it! :D**

* * *

I was wandering around town aimlessly one day when I saw it.

The new mall.

It was a pristine white building, several stories high. _Paris Mall_ was written across the top in red neon cursive. Shiny glass windows showcased designer clothes and stylish furniture. Despite the sign in the window proclaiming everything was 50% off, it seemed pretty empty.

I grimaced. The building certainly hadn't been there yesterday. I decided to go in and see what it was like for myself.

Once past the revolving glass doors, the interior was just as grand as the exterior. White tile floors reflected my slightly annoyed face back at me. The ceiling, a pattern of glass and mirrors, cast crystals of light all around. I ventured on, peering in shops along the way.

I have to say, it made me slightly nauseous.

Passing a shoe store, I glimpsed Bones inside, talking to a customer. I didn't recognize the animal; they must have been a tourist.

I walked into the store, pretending to admire the ladies flats. They were finer than anything Kicks could have offered me. I inched closer to them, eavesdropping.

"Honestly, I don't know what all these Parisians are complaining about." The animal said. She was a green frog. Her big eyes blinked innocently and her lipsticked lips grinned. "More shops mean more shopping!"

 _It also means more people like you._ I thought.

I waited for her to leave the shop before rolling my eyes. Bones approached me.

"Sorry about... That." He sighed. "What's your opinion of this place?"

I hesitated before answering. "Honestly, it makes me want to throw up."

We shared a rueful chuckle.

"Seeing all this invade Paris is too much." I continued. "This is my town- our town- and I can't bear seeing it get like this." I took another breath, then stopped. I let my words hang in the air like a dense cloud of fog. "Please don't quote me on that."

I gave a short laugh, and Bones joined in. Rather reluctantly, though.

-oooo-

However, the mall wasn't the end of it. Over the next weeks, changes were introduced to Paris that left more and more of us Parisians annoyed and confused. Our small bus route was replaced with a large-scale train station that could take us as far as Budapest. Kapp'n lost his job as a consequence, but quickly went into self-employment driving a boat back and forth from a small island he'd kept a secret for years. But the last straw was Tortimer's retirement.

He called a big town meeting one day, so we all assembled in front of the town hall at the appointed hour. Tortimer was out front, Pelly beside him. The group of animals around me seemed nervous, and I could sense the uneasiness ripple through the crowd.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Willow.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's good news, bo peep." She whispered back.

"Can I have your attention please?" Pelly cried shrilly. The animals slowly stopping muttering among themselves and turned towards her. "Thank you. Our mayor would like to make an announcement."

Tortimer stepped up to a small podium and adjusted a microphone. Then, he began to speak, his once rich voice cracked with age.

"Citizens of Paris. I have been mayor of this town for many years, and I've seen many changes. More, if you can believe it, than we're seeing now. And, in hindsight of these changes, I believe it is time for one more. It is now that I announce my intention to retire from my position as mayor."

At this incredible statement, cries of dismay, outrage, and confusion came from the crowd.

"However," He continued, "I'm sure you'll find an excellent replacement for me, eh? Someone much more qualified and responsible? Heh heh HORF!" Tortimer chuckled good-naturedly before sobering again. "Thank you, Paris. For everything." With that, he stepped back from the podium, and slowly walked back into the town hall. We stared long after the heavy doors had swung shut.

The townsfolk just stood there in numb shock. Nobody had ever known a time when Tortimer was not mayor. How could this be happening?

"This is insane, mew." I heard Olivia fume. "He dumps all these changes on us, profits from them, then escapes at the first chance he can get? Pathetic!"

"I'm disappointed, ya know." Cyrano lamented. "We might have been able to handle all the new stuff with him still here, but now that he's gone, Paris will never be the same."

"I just don't understand!" Cookie wailed into a tissue. Kody put an arm around her.

I looked around, actually tearing up a little myself. The town was falling apart, and it was all my fault.


End file.
